The present invention relates generally to a guitar saddle (“saddle”) shaping tool. In particular, the present invention relies on a platform allowing the controlled movement of the guitar saddle in relation to a shaping tool to accurately shape the guitar saddle.
The guitar saddle is a piece of material, usually bone, plastic, or other hard material, in the bridge of a guitar that has a flat bottom and radius on top to match the radius of the guitar's fretboard. To achieve this radius, the traditional method was to file or manipulate the part by hand against an abrasive surface. The height is then adjusted by continuing to adjust the radius lower, or by removing material from the bottom of the piece and retaining a flat bottom surface. Adjusting the height and radius in this manner is time consuming and requires that the instrument be restrung at intervals to check the progress as lowering the guitar saddle too much causes the instrument's strings to contact the frets during play. The ability to achieve a consistent radius is dependent on the skill of the luthier, a maker of stringed instruments such as violins or guitars. It is common that once the radius is achieved, further material is removed from the bottom of the saddle to avoid the more difficult task of making a radius. There are, however, several reasons to avoid removing material from the bottom of the guitar saddle. The instrument bridge and the guitar saddle may have developed an arch and flattening the bottom of the guitar saddle would result in a less perfect fit. In some cases, the guitar saddle is mated to a piezo pickup underneath and once the string volume balance is achieved altering the bottom could upset the pairing with the pickup. There remains a need for additional devices to shape a guitar saddle while maintaining other characteristics of the saddle.
The present invention allows for the radius and/or height of the guitar saddle to be shaped and adjusted accurately.